The vast amount of capital currently sitting on the sidelines of the U.S. real estate market in search of the right deal at the right time and at the right price raises the possibility that it could put a price floor under distressed sales, an analysis by Colliers suggests.

"Investors are sitting on more uninvested capital than ever before," wrote research director for capital markets Aaron Jodka. "With so much money chasing these deals, someone is likely to bite."

Some $270.6 billion is ready to be deployed, according to data attributed to Preqin. That includes $100 billion allocated to opportunistic strategies – "the first time any single target allocation has crossed that threshold," Jodka noted. Value-add and debt strategies make up the balance, putting investors in a good position to capitalize on opportunities that present themselves. Cash buyers are especially well positioned to benefit.